Chapter 208: Dragon Blood Buff! Scheming Against the Sun Anglerfish
"Hiss..."
As Tang Zheng stared in the direction of the Magma Sea, contemplating how to deal with the Sun Anglerfish, he felt a fiery, stinging pain all over his skin.
He looked down.
Raising his arm to look at his exposed palm, Tang Zheng clearly remembered having already healed his own injuries with healing magic.
Why was he still feeling a stinging sensation?
"This is..." Tang Zheng looked at his skin, and his eyes suddenly narrowed.
Due to the influence of the Magma Sea within the Lava Zone, the entire area between the mountain walls reflected the scorching red light emitted from the magma.
Therefore, Tang Zheng hadn't paid much attention after healing his injuries at first. Only now did he discover large red marks on the surface of his palm's skin.
In an environment already saturated with fiery red light, they weren't conspicuous. If he hadn't looked closely, he truly wouldn't have noticed.
A grave expression appeared on Tang Zheng's face. He hurriedly checked the other parts of his body and found that besides his palms, any exposed skin had large red marks.
They were just like the red imprints that appear on an ordinary person's skin after rubbing it.
These were all the places that had been stained with Dragon Blood earlier.
"Major Wound Healing."
With a serious expression, Tang Zheng looked at the large red marks on his skin. A pure white holy light emanated from his palm, enveloping the skin.
However, as the healing light dissipated, the red marks on his skin remained completely unaffected.
"It's not an injury, and it shouldn't be a Curse, so what is this?" Tang Zheng frowned, a hint of displeasure on his face.
The stinging sensation from his skin wasn't intense, it could even be described as faint, but the feeling was undeniably real.
And it wasn't just his skin!
Tang Zheng also felt a faint stinging sensation in his mouth, right where he had licked the Dragon Blood before.
Hm?
As he watched, Tang Zheng suddenly noticed that the large red marks on his arm seemed to have shrunk a little.
Was it an illusion?
No, with his current perceptive abilities, he shouldn't be mistaken about a change of this degree.
"So, what on earth is this?" Tang Zheng's brow furrowed even deeper.
He possessed Complete Curse Resistance, so he didn't need to worry about it being a Curse left behind by the ancient fire dragon before its death.
What Tang Zheng was concerned about was whether it was some other unknown Power. As the thought flashed through his mind, he subconsciously glanced at his stat panel.
The data hadn't changed...
This is!
Tang Zheng's gaze froze.
『MP: 448 → 449』
If he remembered correctly, after raising [Mad Mage] to its max level, his MP should have been 448 points. Now, it had suddenly increased by one.
"It's the effect of the Dragon Blood!" A glimmer of light appeared in Tang Zheng's previously stern eyes.
This was the only possibility at the moment!
However, it only increased his MP by one. Was it because he hadn't been exposed to much Dragon Blood?
Tang Zheng had originally held a skeptical attitude toward the saying "a dragon's entire body is a treasure," mainly because the resources he could currently obtain were too scarce.
Forget the corpse of a dragon, he would have collected the corpse of even a slightly stronger magical beast.
But he never expected it to actually have a special effect.
Most importantly, it was effective on him!
Comparing by level, Tang Zheng was currently Level 41.
The Sun Anglerfish was around Level 47. As one of the three great dominators, the ancient fire dragon possessed the "Ancient" prefix and was also a fire dragon, stronger than the weakest frost dragon.
Its level should also be around Level 47 or 48, but it was highly unlikely to exceed Level 50.
The Dragon Race's racial levels: Young (10 Lv), Juvenile (10 Lv), Adult (10 Lv), Old (10 Lv), Elder (5 Lv), Ancient (5 Lv).
A total of 50 racial levels. And within the Dragon Race's job system, there was a job called "Dragonic Transcendent."
Both the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord and the Platinum Dragon Lord possessed this job. Therefore, Tang Zheng speculated that only after raising one's racial level to the maximum level of 50 could one advance further and obtain the "Dragonic Transcendent" job.
Tang Zheng halted the thoughts in his mind.
In short.
According to his original speculation, even if the ancient fire dragon's flesh truly had a beneficial effect, it shouldn't provide any buff to someone of his level unless it was refined into items like alchemical potions.
Instead, the ancient fire dragon's hard dragon scales were what Tang Zheng considered most valuable.
In the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Mare's light armor was made from the scales of a deep blue Dragon Lord, while Aura's light armor was made from the scales of a crimson-black Dragon Lord.
This showed that even in the game YGGDRASIL, a dragon's scales were still exceptionally fine materials.
*Rumble!*
"Aooo—"
Another loud noise came from the Magma Sea, and a deep cry, like that of a dolphin, was faintly transmitted from within the magma.
*Swoosh!*
A huge, lantern-like palm suddenly shot out from the Magma Sea, flying rapidly toward Tang Zheng.
Faced with this attack, Tang Zheng had no intention of dodging. Instead, he calmly watched the giant lantern-palm fly toward him.
*Twang!* With a shudder, the thick, fiery-red fleshy tube connecting the lantern-palm snapped taut, stopping in mid-air.
The Sun Anglerfish's lure could extend a maximum distance of about a hundred meters. This distance was far from enough to even reach the outer edge of the lava tunnel where Tang Zheng currently stood.
It wasn't even enough to cover half the distance between them.
"I'll deal with you first."
Stirred into action by the Sun Anglerfish's commotion, Tang Zheng refocused, his gaze fixed on the Magma Sea as he spoke softly.
*Bang!*
A Scroll of [Summon Angel] appeared in Tang Zheng's hand, and he crushed it forcefully.
As a dazzling light condensed in the air, the figure of a Dominion of Observation appeared in mid-air.
With a flick of his wrist, Tang Zheng threw a magic scroll he had prepared in advance, storing [Greater Teleportation], to the Dominion of Observation.
The Dominion of Observation raised its hands and, with its massive palms clad in silver armor, placed the scroll, which was tiny in comparison to its body, in its center. It then clasped its palms together, tightly enveloping it to form a protective layer.
*Flap!*
Its bright silver-and-yellow wings beat once.
The Dominion of Observation immediately charged rapidly toward the Magma Sea.
"Hey, big fat fish, you want revenge on me?" Seeing the Dominion of Observation begin its move, Tang Zheng immediately shouted toward the Magma Sea.
*Rumble!*
*Rumble!*
In the Magma Sea, the Sun Anglerfish's massive eyes revealed a look of fury. It leaped from the magma again, sending towering columns of magma into the air.
Seeing the easily provoked Sun Anglerfish, a smile touched Tang Zheng's eyes. There were very few methods he could use to deal with the Sun Anglerfish.
For example, summoning a higher-tier angel, or a higher-tier composite elemental!
But both of these methods involved entering the opponent's home turf to fight. Once the Sun Anglerfish sensed danger and dove deep into the Magma Sea to hide, Tang Zheng would be completely helpless against it.
Therefore!
The best way was to find a way to move the Sun Anglerfish out of its home turf, the Magma Sea.
The [Greater Teleportation] magic scroll in the Dominion of Observation's hands was for this purpose. However, the activation of the magic scroll was not to be performed by the Dominion of Observation!
*Sss! Sss!*
As the Dominion of Observation rapidly entered the central area of the Lava Zone, the silver-white armor on its body gradually became scorching hot, turning red and emitting wisps of white smoke.
Only the center of the Dominion of Observation's palms glowed with a sacred white light.
It was using its holy-attribute energy to protect the magic scroll in its palms.
*Boom!*
The Sun Anglerfish poked its enormous head out of the magma. Seeing the weak little Dominion of Observation flying rapidly toward it, it gave its head a slight flick.
The lantern-shaped lure instantly flew from its head, grabbed the approaching Dominion of Observation, and then yanked it over, throwing it into its mouth.
The dense, sharp, and thick teeth easily crushed the Dominion of Observation, which turned into sparks of light and quickly dissipated.
And the magic scroll naturally fell into the Sun Anglerfish's mouth, to be crushed and activated along with it.
Activating teleportation magic naturally required a destination!
If there was no pre-marked destination, then the location within its line of sight would be the final teleportation point.
And at this moment!
The Sun Anglerfish was staring intently at Tang Zheng's location. As the [Greater Teleportation] magic activated, the space on the surface of the Magma Sea where the Sun Anglerfish was located collapsed in an instant, and its massive figure vanished into thin air.
Success!
Tang Zheng used the seventh-tier [Greater Teleportation] instead of the fifth-tier [Teleportation] precisely because once Greater Teleportation was successfully activated, it could not fail.
Even if the Sun Anglerfish could react, it wouldn't have time to stop it.
And on Tang Zheng's side, almost at the same instant, the Sun Anglerfish's colossal, mountain-like figure, about fifty meters long, appeared directly above his head, casting a huge shadow as it came crashing down.
*RUMBLE!*
The air was abruptly compressed, instantly forming an invisible pressure that surged downward.
Tang Zheng, who was long prepared, naturally reacted at the first moment, but he still couldn't help his pupils contracting slightly.
This was also the first time he had faced a situation of being approached by teleportation magic, the first time he had felt how tricky this magic was.
If he hadn't known in advance and was suddenly faced with this situation, it would be easy to panic and even fail to react in time.
"Impure Shock Shield!"
Tang Zheng's eyes widened as he let out a low shout.
*BANG!*
A shockwave of black energy erupted with Tang Zheng at its center, colliding with the Sun Anglerfish's enormous body and creating a deafening roar.
Despite the complete mismatch in size between the Sun Anglerfish's enormous body and the comparatively tiny Tang Zheng below it, the creature was still forcibly knocked back, unable to resist.
In addition to nullifying magic effects, the 「Impure Shock Shield」 also had the effect of forcibly repelling all enemies within its range.
*RUMBLE!!*
"Aooo—"
The Sun Anglerfish let out a sharp, dolphin-like shriek as its massive body slammed heavily onto the ground, making the entire earth tremble.
The surrounding mountain walls rained down a large amount of rubble from the intense tremor.
Suddenly removed from the familiar Magma Sea!
The Sun Anglerfish's huge, fiery-red fish pupils showed a look of panic as it constantly flapped the fins on its sides and back.
However!
On land, these organs of movement had no effect whatsoever.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
The panicked Sun Anglerfish writhed its enormous body nonstop, its tail lashing heavily against the ground. Every impact with the ground made the whole earth shake.
Tang Zheng quickly retreated, putting distance between himself and the Sun Anglerfish.
Looking at the massive, crimson figure that was over fifty meters long and at least thirty meters high, Tang Zheng couldn't help but crane his neck, a look of astonishment on his face.
Knowing the data was one thing; actually standing before such a behemoth was a completely different feeling.
He felt the astonishing aura rushing toward him!
Its level was clearly only around 47.
And his current level was also 41. The level gap between them didn't seem that significant, but the difference in their body size and life level...
Forget about the Dragon Race!
Tang Zheng was now certain that even if he raised his level to 47, there would still be a considerable gap between his MP and that of the Sun Anglerfish before him.
This disparity wasn't about level, but purely about race!
However!
In other aspects—
"Hmph!" Tang Zheng snorted coldly as a shocking wave of magic power surged from his body. Streams of water condensed out of thin air, coiling around his body and surging toward his arms.
"Seventh-Tier Magic—Chain Water Dragon!"
*BOOM!*
Two swimming water dragons were released from Tang Zheng's arms. They rapidly expanded in mid-air, transforming into two water dragons several meters long that heavily bombarded the Sun Anglerfish's body.
*BANG!*
A violent impact exploded.
It forcefully knocked the Sun Anglerfish's enormous body back some distance.
The two water dragons dissolved into splashes of water that spread out, washing over the Sun Anglerfish's scorching red scales and rapidly cooling the high temperature radiating from its body.
*Sss-crack—Sss-crack—*
Following this were crisp cracking sounds from the Sun Anglerfish's scales. One could faintly observe that the hard scales seemed to have become more brittle.
Scales adapted to high temperatures would naturally not adapt well to a low-temperature environment.
"Aoo!"
The Sun Anglerfish let out a pained roar. Its furious, crimson fish eyes snapped out of their panic, staring at the tiny human figure not far away.
"A pity I haven't mastered any ice-attribute moves, otherwise dealing with this would be much easier."
The thought flashed through Tang Zheng's mind, but his attacks didn't pause for a moment as his surging magic power pulsed once more.
"Seventh-Tier Magic—Chain Dragon Lightning!"
Dazzling lightning suddenly flickered all over Tang Zheng's body, then condensed into two white thunder dragons on his arms.
The brilliant lightning illuminated Tang Zheng, and a terrifyingly destructive aura emanated from his body.
*RUMBLE!*
The two serpentine, galloping bolts of dragon-shaped lightning became two dazzling, intertwined white lights. At the speed of lightning, in the blink of an eye, they heavily struck the Sun Anglerfish's body.
*CRACK!!*
The Sun Anglerfish's entire body was enveloped in dazzling lightning. Its scales, already made brittle by the previous water-attribute attack, were easily bypassed as the lightning burrowed through the gaps and into the Sun Anglerfish's body.
"Aoo, aoo!!"
The Sun Anglerfish once again let out a pained and violent shriek. As the dazzling lightning dissipated, large areas of its tough scales had shattered, and streams of blood flowed out from the wounds all over the Sun Anglerfish's body.
Its previously vigorous life aura was now weakened by a large margin.
"AOO!!"
The Sun Anglerfish looked at Tang Zheng with fury and fear. It opened its massive fish mouth, and its gills on both sides began to rapidly swell.
A crimson energy emitted a fiery glow from both sides of its gills, and in the next moment, scorching magma spewed from the Sun Anglerfish's mouth.
「Lava Surge」
A crimson torrent of high temperature rushed toward Tang Zheng.
(end of chapter)